PJI’s Challenge to Health Care Law Moves Forward!

As many of you know, Pacific Justice Institute, an established legal defender of family and faith on the west coast, was the first to file a federal lawsuit in California challenging the new massive Health Care Law as unconstitutional. This lead case in the 9th Circuit has already overcome at least one attempt to dismiss it.

This positive momentum in our litigation was furthered even more when we heard that a federal judge in Virginia recently gave the green light to a similar lawsuit by Virginia’s attorney’s general against the same massive federal health care legislation.

In its ruling, the Virginia federal court determined that the state lawsuit against the federal takeover of health care raised important constitutional questions that should be fully litigated. In so doing, the court denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case.

The Virginia court stated, “While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate - and tax - a citizen’s decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any circuit court of appeals has squarely addressed this issue. No reported case from any federal appellate court has extended the Commerce Clause or Tax Clause to include the regulation of a person’s decision not to purchase a product, notwithstanding its effect on interstate commerce.”

PJI affiliate attorney Pete Lepiscopo is representing Pacific Justice Institute and former Assemblyman Steve Baldwin in the San Diego health care suit and has filed a brief with the federal court calling its attention to the Virginia Ruling. A motion for preliminary injunction filed by the plaintiffs, and a motion to dismiss by the government defendants are pending in the San Diego Case.

You may be wondering: Why has Pacific Justice Institute felt it so important to file this suit in the 9th Circuit? Well, the 9th Circuit is one of the few federal circuits that has proven itself to be the most willing to Constitutionally challenge acts of Congress. Ironically, that zest to challenge legislation plays right into our hands as we will be asking the courts in this Circuit to do just that – declare that the health care reform law, as it is presently written, is unconstitutional.

And, the stakes could not be higher. If the current administration is successful, then the doors with be wide open for the federal government to tax – and control - virtually any aspect of our lives related to the goods and services we choose not to buy! Our founding fathers of our great republic had concern for this when it wrote the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. It is now our responsibility to ensure that the Commerce Clause, and other limitations on the powers of the federal government, are kept in check. And the only way to keep it in check, is to aggressively and strategically combat this assault in the courts.

While our lawsuit in federal court in San Diego has already overcome several legal challenges, our next hearing on this case is scheduled for sometime this fall. With many, such as yourself, becoming an active and timely part in this endeavor, we can preserve our Constitutional rights both now and for generations to come. Working together, we can see this become a reality.

For those wishing to support the work of Pacific Justice Institute you can make a $10 tax deductable donation by texting “PJI” at 20222 or visit www.pacificjustice.org to make a tax deductable donation of any amount.